New Constitution Armenia`s domestic affair - FM 

ArmInfo.Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan does not share the opposition's point of  view about the failure of the RA government program for 2021-2026.

At a meeting of the commissions of the National Assembly of the  Republic of Armenia, the report of the Cabinet of Ministers on the  implementation of the country's 2023 budget is discussed. NA deputy  from the opposition "Armenia" faction Armen Rustamyan pointed out  those provisions of the government program that spoke of support for  the right of the people of Artsakh to self-determination, the  unconditional preservation of the territorial integrity of the state,  international recognition of the Armenian Genocide, and adherence to  the provisions of the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia. As the  oppositionist noted, the program says one thing, but in reality  everything looks completely different.

In response, Mirzoyan emphasized that this approach of the opposition  is aimed at misleading the Armenian public and is fraught with  destructive consequences for the country. "This mentality became the  cause of all the tragedies that we encountered. This same mentality,  which I am sure was brought from outside, led to the "broken trough"  that we all found ourselves in front of," the head of the RA Foreign  Ministry noted.

The RA Government, Mirzoyan continued, has conducted and continues to  conduct a number of studies, on the basis of which the provisions of  the Cabinet's program were adjusted. The minister noted that regional  processes must be taken into account. "If the program included  assistance to Nagorno-Karabakh, then after the well-known actions on  the part of Azerbaijan, which led to the depopulation of Artsakh,  there was no point in continuing in the same vein," Mirzoyan noted.

As for the Constitution, as the minister emphasized, both Yerevan and  Baku pointed out the existing provisions that are an obstacle to the  establishment of peace in the region. But this, as the head of the  Foreign Ministry noted, does not mean that the issue is on the agenda  for negotiations; there is nothing like that, despite the existing  problems. "Changes to the Constitution of Armenia have been discussed  since 2018, and to assert that these discussions are dictated by the  demands of Azerbaijan is fundamentally wrong. This is an internal  matter of Armenia," the head of the republic's foreign policy  department emphasized.

On January 19 of this year, Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia  Nikol Pashinyan said that the country needs a new Constitution that  will make the country "more competitive and viable in new  conditions." And in an interview with Public Radio on February 1, he  actually made it clear that the new Constitution should not contain  any reference to the Declaration. And if Armenia's policy is based on  the Declaration of Independence, on the reunification of  Nagorno-Karabakh and the Republic of Armenia, then war will begin and  there will never be peace.

Before this, Azerbaijani President Aliyev stated that a peace treaty  between Baku and Yerevan could be signed only after amendments were  made to the Constitution of Armenia.